Social Class and Demographic of My Product

Reader Profile

Reader Profile Research

Audience Profiles

Pop

Who listens to pop music?

The main audience for pop music is young females (10-20). This is because many pop bands and artists are marketed in a way to appeal to them, e.g. artists who are conventional attractive, clean cut image, bright vibrant colours. Pop music is very ‘mainstream’ and is usually the main genre in the charts and is what’s popular. Pop music is heavily used in television and media, and because of this it is what becomes popular and memorable. This is why it is most popular with younger people because they tend to want to ‘fit in’ and do what everyone else is doing. Therefore, if a certain artist/band becomes popular then it’s because they are what’s cool at the time and marketers will take advantage of this and use them to sell their product. The price of pop magazines is often quite low as the people buying it are usually unemployed because they are so young, or because they are of a lower social class.

Examples of pop artists:

 

Indie

Who listens to indie music?

People who listen to indie music tend to be older and more mature than pop listeners because the music isn’t as broadcasted on mainstream channels, therefore the indie audience have had to discover the bands and artists themselves through the internet, record shops or going to music events. To teenagers and young adults, indie music is a lot ‘cooler’ than mainstream pop music and therefore they are the main target audience. Indie music has different sub-genres, including indie-pop, indie-rock and indie-alternative. People who like indie music tend to like music from more than one of these sub-genres, because there is often overlap in them from some artists e.g an artist may have some songs which are more 'indie pop' but they may also have some songs which are more towards the 'indie rock' sub genre. 

Examples of indie bands/artists:

Rock

Who listens to rock music?

Rock music is listened to by people of all ages, as there are bands and artists both young and old who make music of this very popular genre. Stereotypically, the main audience of rock music is white British males of a working to middle class background. Rock music is very loud and this is reflective of the bold personalities that a lot of rock listeners will have. Some rock music appeals to listeners of all ages, however some older rock will only appeal to people of that generation as it’s what they grew up with and what was ‘cool’ when they were young. 

Examples of rock bands/artists:

House

House music is generally listened to people of all genders ages between 16-25, usually working class and white. This is because house music is usually ‘dance anthems’ which are played in clubs on nights out so this age category are most likely to hear the music and enjoy it. 

Examples of house bands/artists:

The genre I have chosen for my music magazine is indie/indie pop. 

Genre Research

Pop Music

House

Indie

Rock

Conventions Analysis

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

 DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD



Time Management Diary

10/10: Completed conventions analysis of front cover, contents page and double-page spread.

26/10: Completed genre research.

3/11: Posted genre research to blog. Started audience profiles.

4/11: Finished audience profiles and reader profile research.

5/11: Completed reader profiles and social class and demographic work (prezi). 

6/11: Publisher Research

16/11 - 18/11: Influential images, Costume Design and Chosen Artist Profile, Artist Profile and Artist Name Ideas

23/11: My First Photoshoot, Mise-en-scene, Location and Props Ideas

25/11: Colour Scheme, Name and Feature Story Ideas

27/11 - 5/12: Hand Drawn Drafts, Digital Drafts, Google Mock Up Ideas

9/12 - 15/12: Making My Front Cover and Experimenting With Colour

04/01: I received feedback from my teacher about how to improve my front cover.

14/01 - 15/01: I did a second photoshoot. I made sure that I took a range of images which would be suitable for my front cover, contents page and double-page spread. 

16/01 - 25/01: I made my front cover.

27/01 - 10/02: I made my contents page.

10/02 - 17/02: I made my double-page spread. 

27/02 - 01/04: I received feedback from my teacher and made improvements to my front cover, contents page and double-page spread. 

02/04 - 10/05: Evaluation Questions

Main Brief

To design a front cover, contents and double page spread of anew music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Examples:

 FRONT COVER - INDIE-POP



DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD - POP GENRE





FRONT COVER - INDIE-ROCK

CONTENTS PAGE - POP

DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD

FRONT COVER - INDIE-POP

Evaluation

What have you learnt from completing this task?

From completing this task, I have learnt about many things I did not know before. I have learnt about the different conventions of magazines, for example mastheads, feature stories, skylines and plugs. These are things I did not know the names of before, and just saw them on magazines and didn’t really think much of it. I have used my skills of Photoshop which I already had, as well as expanding on them and improving the overall quality of my work. I have also learnt about the different stages of making a magazine, from initial ideas of names and layouts, to drafts and all the way through to taking photos and editing them to actually make the product itself. I have also learnt how to analyse magazines effectively, to pick out the key features and conventions and their purposes. I have found this is a very important skill to have as the knowledge I have learnt about what makes magazines effective can be applied when I my own magazines, as I know what it is which appeals to the reader/target audience.

How have you used technology?

While completing the task I have used a range of different technologies. I have used computers and the internet to plan and research before making my product. Also for my planning and in order to present my work on my blog, I have used Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Publisher, for example I used Publisher to create the digital drafts for my cover and contents page, then used PowerPoint to present them on there and annotate them. I also used a phone camera to take my images for the task, then a USB to transfer my images from the phone to the computer. I then used Photoshop to edit my images and create the final product.

What conventions have you used and why?

The masthead was an extremely important convention of my magazine front cover, as it is what tells the reader/target audience the name of the magazine. This is important because the name of the magazine can say a lot about what the magazine is about. For example, my magazine being called ‘Campus Connect’ instantly tells the reader that my magazine is educational and contains information related to college and is suitable for college students.

The skyline and footer of the magazine offer extra information about the contents of the magazine to the target audience. For example, the footer of my magazine is very similar to a feature story or a plug, as it is telling you something about what has been written about in the magazine, but it is also advertising an event. I have used a plug on my front cover as it is another key convention of a magazine.

The plug I have used is to advertise NUS cards, which would appeal to my target audience of college students as student discount would be very useful to them.

Around the main image of my magazine, I have added lots of feature stories from inside the magazine. This is very conventional of a magazine because the audience can see very quickly some of the articles which are in the magazine, and decide whether they want to buy it. The aim of using feature stories is that the audience will see them and these will appeal to them, resulting in them buying the magazine.

What would you change if you were to do this task again?

If I were to do this task again I would organise my time better so I had time to take my images using a DSLR or bridge camera. I would do this so that my images were better quality, but also so that I gained more skills which would be transferable for future assignments. I would also spend more time in Photoshop creating my product, so that the quality would be of a higher standard. I would also make sure to take more photos, so I had a wider selection to choose from.

Final Product

This is my final product for the front cover and contents page of the college magazine.

Creating My Product

I created my final product using Photoshop. 

First of all, I opened my image in photoshop, I then used the magic wand and paint bucket tool to change the colour of the book the girl is holding. I did this so that is matches my house style colours. I then added a skyline and footer.

I then added the masthead of my front cover, making sure this was in a lot bigger font than the rest of my text, as this is conventional for a magazine. 

I then began to add my feature stories. By drawing a white rectangle shape and reducing the opacity to 50%, then placing it behind my text. 

 



After adding my feature stories, I then added the barcode, price, issue number and date, and contact information.

The final thing I added was my plug to promote the NUS discounts.  

Photographs for Front Cover

I took several images for my front cover, using different angles and framing. 

My images

For the front cover of my magazine, I would not use an extreme close-up, as this is not conventional because you can not see what the image is showing e.g. mise-en-scene and background. 

I looked through my images and decided on my favourite four. 

                   

I think these images are the best quality out of the ones that I took. I now need to decided which one to use for my front cover. To do this, I will take into account positioning of my feature stories, masthead etc and also the colours used in the image

Basics of Photoshop

• To create a new document:

                                               

                                    File -> new -> international paper

                                                                                    (RGB Colour mode)

• Keys things to remember when using photoshop:

-       Using layers (MUST LABEL THEM)

-       Using the toolbar

• Opening an image:

                                    File -> open -> this open sin new tab -> drag tab to side use move tool to drag image into original document

• How to transform the size of an image:

                                    Edit -> transform –> scale -> hold shift and pull from corners

                        Click on circle with line through to discard any transformation changes

• Always duplicate the orginial image incase something goes wrong

                                    Click on layer -> duplicate layer

• Use quick select tool to delete background

• To create a new layer, click on the square tool at the bottom of the layers tab.

• To add text, click on the “T” icon in the toolbar.

• Add a stroke or outline to text:

           

                                    Double click box -> stroke

• Add stroke to main image:

                                    Drop shadow -> blend mode -> normal

• To zoom in and out: hold alt

• Change eye colour: select eyes -> brush tool -> change opacity.

My practise photoshop work:

Mise-en-scene

The location of images, clothing of models and props are extremely important in taking photographs for magazines. This is so the mise-en-scene of the image suits the fact my magazine is a college magazine targeted at students.

Location Ideas

• Near lockers
• Near library
• In a classroom
• In the canteen
• In outside areas
• Near ‘Wyke’ sign
• People working at desks
• Near display boards for subjects

Clothing

• Casual, everyday clothing
• Jeans
• T-shirt/jumper
• Jackets/hoodies

Props

• Bags
• Folders
• Pens
• Paper
• Headphones
• Notebook
• Textbook
• Money
• Bus pass 
• Cameras

Framing Images

1) Extreme close-up: only a small section of the person's face can be seen e.g. the eyes. This is done for dramatic effect and would not be appropriate for the front or contents page of my magazine.

2) Close up: Different to an extreme close-up. In this kind of frame, for example someones entire face would be able to be seen. 

3) Medium close up: Most conventional shot for a magazine as it shows from the waist upwards of a person. Being this far away it also allows a lot of the background to be seen, e.g. lockers which would show the mise-en-scene of the magazine. 

4) Long shot: A long shot shows the entire person, from head to toe. This can also allow a lot of the background to be shown. 

5) High angle: A high angle is taken from above to create the feeling of the camera looking down on the model/subject. For example, this type of shot could be used for a feature story about exam stress as it could connote the feeling of all the stress is piling on top of the person and becoming too much, this would be very dramatic.

6) Low angle: A low angle is the opposite to a high angle, the camera is looking up at the subject of the image.

7) Two shot: A two shot features two people in the image. You can have a medium close-up two shot or a long shot two shot.

8) Image framed to the left: An image framed to the left is when the person is stood to the left of the image, this could be done so that the background of something else can be seen on the right. 

9) Image framed to the right: An image framed to the right is when the person is stood to the right of the image, this could be done so that the background of something else can be seen on the left. 

10) Central image:A central image is when the subject of the image is right in the middle of the frame. 

Examples of these frames: 

Extreme close-up

Close-up

Medium close-up

Long-shot

High angle

Low angle 

Two shot

Image framed to the left

Image framed to the right

Central shot